Greenwood Talks are organised by Green Street Green Village Society - the first one was on 17 April 2014 and the plan is to have 3-4 events each year. The admission cost is £2, including refreshments after each talk. Telephone: 01689 850 668 for tickets.NEXT ONE: TBA

26 February 2015 - 'The Darwin Family' We welcomed Barbara Stevens, our guest speaker at the Greenwood Community Centre. Barbara is a very well-known and respected speaker in our area. She has been a resident of Downe for 48 years and this time she spoke about Charles Darwin and other Downe dwellers. She gave us a potted history about Charles Darwin, his wife Emma (nee Wedgwood) and ten children, which is well documented, and suggested a visit to Down House was always worthwhile.

Her talk was very informative, interspersed with her infectious laughter and her knowledge about various locations in Downe Village and who lived in the various properties was of particular interest.

This was the third in a series of talks which I have recently arranged for the Village Society. It was a successful evening with nearly 60 people attending. I’m hoping to arrange more talks in the future – so watch this space……………Alan Garelick - Events Manager, Greenwood Community Centre

16 September 2014The second talk was on Thursday 4 September at 8pm - 'What's on the cards?' - the history of playing cards - given by Alan Payne.A packed Greenwood Centre listened attentively to a very interesting lecture on the origins and development of playing cards over the ages.Alan Payne told us of why and how the modern design took place, the rationale of why some of the picture cards have the face pointing in different directions, along with the reasoning for the suit of spades having a larger symbol than the other three, together with the ethos of being able to see the value of every card when held in the hand.

Some party demonstrations explained how marked cards enable magicians to undertake some tricks and how even 'wedge shaped' special packs are available

from specialist manufacturers that require sleight of hand to ensure the 'chosen' card is inserted back into the pack at 180 degrees variance to all the others.

Logicality to the names of the cards was also given to us in simple terms, with the Queen being originally designed as a commemorative picture of a loved one whilst, to prevent there being two 'Ks' in the pack, the original name of Knave was changed to Jack, so leaving the King alone.Alan told us about the idea of Tarot cards being read, why there are Jokers in the pack and also the rationale of four suits and 13 cards in a suit, 'Deck of Cards' became a bit record for a number of people, including Max Bygraves, Merle Travis and the relatively big hit for Wink Martindale, when telling the religious story based on the various elements of the suits and numbers.An enjoyable evening for everyone, rounded up by some tasty cakes accompanying tea and coffee after the talk.Bob Trott - Chair of the Village SocietyAlan Payne's brochure can be downloaded here.

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22 March 2014The Village Society now has a Social Calendar sub-committee, to organise a range of presentations to be held at The Greenwood Centre every 2-3 months. The first of these talks, 'Discovering Roman Bromley', will take place on Thursday 17 April at 8pm - you can indicate your intention to attend on Facebook.Dr Brian Philp is Director of ‘The Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit’ (KARU) and has been excavating Roman sites in Bromley and Kent for over five decades. He has lived in the Bromley area since childhood and moved to Green Street Green in 2012. He will be imparting his vast knowledge on Roman Bromley.Refreshments will be provided and tickets are £2, available from Alan Garelick - telephone: 01689 850 668.

If you have ideas for future events, or have contacts who would be able to give an interesting presentation, please post information below or email us.

Dr Brian Philp shows Eddie Sims his first Roman pottery find

17 April 2014 - 'Discovering Roman Bromley'By 8pm there was standing room only at the Greenwood Community Centre, for the first 'Greenwood Talks' event, 'Discovering Roman Bromley'. Dr Brian Philp MBE spoke authoratively to a rapt audience about his historical excavations over the last five decades.

He began with an explanation of the development of the Kent area since the ice age. There was a focus on Roman Britain, followed by the deterioration of our civilisation when the Anglo-Saxons settled here. Medieval Britain lost the advantages of Roman engineering and education which were not really matched until industrialisation in the 19th and 20th century.There have been many interesting archaeological discoveries in our local area over the last fifty years and Dr Philp was able to tell the stories of many of them, from his first-hand experience. He was instrumental in saving the Crofton Roman Villa from obliteration by the building of a car park. A commercial option would have cost £200,000 but Dr Philp and his team excavated the site and covered it under a metal-framed building for a mere £79,999!Another local area of great interest is in Keston, where the discovery of a Roman mausoleum in the grounds of a house owned by Bromley Council led to further discoveries of a Roman villa, a large timber building for storage, a smaller barn and an Anglo-Saxon dwelling. The discovery of a Roman bathhouse in Poverest Road led to excavations revealing an Anglo-Saxon burial ground close by.Dr Philp passed round an impressive flint tool over 100,000 years old, palm-sized but quite heavy and clearly manufactured by an ancient tribesman, despite years buried and smoothed by water. He also showed his first find, a large piece of Roman pottery which he discovered on a dig whilst still a schoolboy at Bromley Grammar School for Boys (in Hayes Lane and now a comprehensive). Finishing his talk, a series of slides showed the various sites during the excavations and the hour seemed over in the blink of an eye.Links to further information about local discoveries and places of interest to visit are listed below:Crofton Roman VillaKeston Roman TombsKeston Roman VillaPoverest Roman BathhouseLBB - Poverest BathhouseBromley MuseumKent Guided Tours by Dr PhilpCouncil for Kent ArchaeologyOrpington & District Archaeological Society